'My Strange Addiction' is addicting

It’s baaaccckkk. A new season of “My Strange Addiction” aired on TLC Thursday night and if the first two shows are any indication, what a strange season it will be.

The first episode featured a couple that was addicted to coffee enemas. No joke. The wife started doing it and eventually convinced her husband to give them a try. He obliged and became addicted. At one point in the show, she admitted to doing 90+ enemas in a 24-hour period, much to the surprise of her husband.

Toward the end of the show, the couple visited a gastroentologist, to make sure that they had not harmed themselves during the process. They both got a clean bill of health, but it came with a stern warning from the doctor to cease their behavior immediately. He pointed out that coffee contains chemicals other than caffeine that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream when used in enema form.

Did the couple see reason and listen? Nope. They continued to feed their addiction on a daily basis, despite the doctor’s warning.

Now if you think it can’t get any weirder than that, think again. The second segment of the first episode featured a woman addicted to eating cat hair. Yes, cat hair. Not only did she pluck hair off of her cats and eat it, but she insisted on grooming them with her tongue. The cats didn’t seem to mind, save for an occasional swat.

She confessed her addiction to one of her close friends, who was shocked, to say the least. She also sought medical advice. The doctor scanned her stomach to make sure there were no blockages. Surprisingly enough, she was hair ball-free. Again, the doctor gave her a strict warning, telling her that she should stop eating cat hair because there is no guarantee that she would not develop a hair ball in the future that would have to be removed surgically.

The doctor also showed her a photo of a stomach that contained a hairball. She seemed utterly disgusted, even saying at one point that she felt like throwing up. She seemed to be sincere about her disgust, but then proceeded to tell the doctor that she could not promise that she’d stop eating cat hair. In the end, she kept on doing it.

Just when you thought you’d seen it all, the second episode aired right after the first. This one featured a man who was addicted to blow up animals and a woman addicted to getting injections on her backside, in hopes of plumping up her derriere.

The guy lived with about 15 blow-up animals — they type children use when in the swimming pool, to help them float. He was so obsessed with them, that he stopped having contact with humans and even made food for the plastic toys. He went as far as kissing and hugging them and telling the world that he was in a “relationship” with them. However, he swore that he was not intimate with them. Whew, what a relief to hear that!

He would take them out with him and said he could not be away from them for more than a day because he would miss them. Despite a doctor’s advice at the end of the show, he continued his “relationship” with his toys.

The woman addicted to injections was the more interesting of the two in that episode. She was not going to a doctor for the shots. Instead, she was getting them on the black market, meeting a woman in a hotel room, where she received the shots. She admitted to a friend that she had no clue what was being injected into her. She said every time she went to get an injection, the woman had a bowl of liquid set up already, so all she had to do was lay there and get the injections.

The friend she confessed to had also been addicted to “butt injections” and as a result, she had a huge, lopsided behind. She, too, got black market injections and later found out that home improvement supplies, such as concrete, were in the injections. She tried to steer her friend on the right path, but it didn’t work.

The addict eventually visited a doctor, who took a look at the tissue at the injection site. He informed her that there were some abnormalities at the site and asked her who was doing the injections. When she told him that it was being done on the black market, he was appalled and advised her to stop immediately. He told her that some of those ingredients can cause instant death.

After her visit with the doctor, her friend informed her that the woman that had been doing her injections has been indicted in a court of law because of her practice. The woman finally got the message and quit getting the injections. But who knows what damage had already been done.

Despite the shock and disbelief that some of these stories produce in the viewer, the positive thing is that all the addicts visit a doctor as part of the show. Even though they may not take his or her advice, at least they know what they’re up against.